Uke Shopping at a Guitar store

Weird story.
Our local Guitar Center sounds like the Rudy's experience. They simply don't care.
Our Sam Ash Music store is just about the opposite, very uke friendly. They are a sponsor of TBUS, our club.
However, the ukes don't have their own room, only the popular rock n roll instruments do.
Across the Bay, Sam Ash Music store dislikes ukes. Their Guitar Center is totally uke crazy. They even hosted a Stu Fuchs workshop that I attended.
 
I was in a guitar shop a while ago and the salesperson pretty much sneered about ukuleles as a serious instrument. And often it's more complicated than just being 'anti-uke'. Looking for an acoustic (and especially a classical guitar) in a general guitar shop packed with Fenders and Gibsons can also elicit a sneer. Even back when I was trying to be a rock star and playing electric guitars, music shops were daunting places, with staff sneering at customers who played the 'wrong' song. Young people do like to sneer, I know I did. ;)

Thing is, ukes might be popular right now, but only in the sense that lots of people are casually playing them. So that means cheap to decent popular models from large brands for the most part – Kala, Cordoba etc. This is the case even for guitar shops who are 'uke friendly'.

For those of us not lucky enough to live in Hawaii, this isn't changing any time soon. I live in a big city, with a few dozen music stores, but I'm pretty sure only one or two carry anything more than a $350 uke, let alone any of the high-end K brands – and even then it's the odd one or two pieces gathering dust. Would they sell them if they had them in store and promoted this? Perhaps, but with CITES and shell export duties adding to the costs, I wonder how many? And if they are selling to serious uke musicians, then the shop needs to know about setups, support and so on, which is a whole new skillset and ongoing responsiblity.
 
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Weird story.
Our local Guitar Center sounds like the Rudy's experience. They simply don't care.
Our Sam Ash Music store is just about the opposite, very uke friendly. They are a sponsor of TBUS, our club.
However, the ukes don't have their own room, only the popular rock n roll instruments do.
Across the Bay, Sam Ash Music store dislikes ukes. Their Guitar Center is totally uke crazy. They even hosted a Stu Fuchs workshop that I attended.

I would love to have had that Guitar Center near me. On my Must Do list when I have more time in 2020 is to go to a Stu Fuchs workshop. All I can make time for this year is Ukulele Hot Springs.
 
I would love to have had that Guitar Center near me. On my Must Do list when I have more time in 2020 is to go to a Stu Fuchs workshop. All I can make time for this year is Ukulele Hot Springs.
I can definitely recommend the Stu Fuchs workshop. He’s such a fun teacher. He did a workshop here last month and the guitar shop was a sponsor. They donated a uke for a raffle & some of their staff attended the workshop. No K brands in their shop (except Klos), but they have been getting in some mid level Kala & Martin ukes.
 
I can definitely recommend the Stu Fuchs workshop. He’s such a fun teacher. He did a workshop here last month and the guitar shop was a sponsor. They donated a uke for a raffle & some of their staff attended the workshop. No K brands in their shop (except Klos), but they have been getting in some mid level Kala & Martin ukes.

I actually considered driving to that one. I'm just scared to drive long distances.
 
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